It's not a secret that I LOVE fish. I grew up eating fish - in fact, I was fishing at the age of 5! I am more than comfortable handling fish and preparing it for family and friends. When I moved from the East Coast to California, I came to find that folks were unfamiliar with fish - many didn't even want to touch it. I ended up teaching my colleagues in culinary school how to handle fish. So, needless to say, when I go to restaurants, I am always dreaming of a great fish experience that lives up to the dishes I hold in my memory bank!

There are many places that serve fish - not all of them good. It takes a Great Chef with a well-trained staff to prepare memorable fish dishes.

In the early '90s, while writing for Orange Coast Magazine, I spoke at a conference in Hawaii on "Trends in Food" and met the Chefs that created Hawaiian Regional Cuisine, a culinary alliance that was a predecessor to our farm-to-table movement today. That was when I met Chef George Mavrothalassitis - better known as
Chef Mavro - along with Chefs Alan Wong and Roy Yamaguchi. Chef Mavro of Honolulu’s fine dining restaurant of the same name, invited me to attend the amazing Honolulu Fish Auction - it's not to be missed. Independent fishermen drop their catch off to sell and the buyers can get a constant supply of fresh fish every day to ship anywhere around the world.

5. ALAN WONG UNIVERSITY

It takes a Great Chef to lead a Great Team to create memorable fish dishes that resonate with guests around the world.Chef Alan Wong is that Great Chef.

Wong himself says he teaches his cooks "first and foremost to be a good person, to be a good citizen in the community, to give back always when you possibly can. To make the right decisions. Whatever you learn from me, go teach it to the next generation. And, hopefully along the way, you learn a few cooking things."

His signature dish? The Ginger-Crusted Onaga. With this dish, he pulls in his roots - he is of Hawaiian, Japanese and Chinese descent! This is a Hawaiian red snapper that is encrusted in a delicious Chinese ginger crust and finished in a Japanese miso-sesame vinaigrette. It's perfect. I think that a great crusting is one of the best ways to prepare fish!

7. A CHAIN OF FISH

If you ask me,
Chef Roy Yamaguchi is to be commended for successfully opening 31 Roy's Restaurants - which is no small feat in itself, but the fact that he was able to build an empire revolving around a Chef-driven fish concept is something to note.

From Japanese descent having grown up in Maui, his food is based on childhood memories of the feelings and flavors of Hawaii. Roy invented what he refers to as "Hawaiian Fusion® Cuisine" — a term that is trademarked as his own.

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This is the beautiful Waterside Inn in Bray on the banks of the River Thames, an hour outside of London. It has been a 3-star Michelin establishment for 30 years!

2. WHAT'S OLD IS NEW

In the '60s, I took some of my favorite culinary students on a gastronomic study tour to London with the help of my pal Barbara Leidenfrost, travel agent par excellence. We studied at the Cordon Bleu and visited with some of the great chefs in the area. I love London and the English truly understand how to celebrate their fish. Remember Dover Sole?

One of my favorite spots is
The Waterside Inn, created by the legendary Roux Brothers, Albert and Michel, who eventually came to Santa Barbara, California. Today, it is Alain Roux, son of Michel, that continues the great traditions. It was here that I first experienced Sea Salt-Crusted Seabass served tableside… so succulent, so simple, so perfect… the way great fish can be prepared and served with dignity.

Today, I am still discovering this dish in interesting places, reinforcing the notion of what's old is new. There are YouTube videos that detail the prep of this dish and many Chefs are featuring it as a "new" trend, including Mario Batali, Tom Colicchio, Cathy Pavlos, Jamie Oliver, and Emeril Lagasse.

This is the dish created by Chef Mavro in 1989 and selected by award-winning food writer Alan Richman for GQ Magazine as one of the “Ten Best Recipes of the Year” in 1993. The Snapper Baked in a Hawaiian Salt Crust with Ogo-Fines Herbes-Tomato cooked in a thick coating of fine salt, which forms a crust that is cracked tableside to reveal the fish to the diner in dramatic fashion.

He has created this dish more than 80,000 times and just when he vows to retire the dish, he is forced to bring it back due to popular demand.

For me, this dish is one of the most famous farm-to-table recipes that, today, marks the 20th anniversary of Hawaiian Regional Cuisine.

6. GRAD STUDENTS

Alan Wong has been a great influence over food in Hawaii - if you’ve had a kalua pig and foie gras sandwich, a ginger-scallion, or panko-crusted fish, you can probably thank him.

While his style is seen in many chefs who have never worked with him, he is directly responsible for influencing more than 150 cooks and chefs who have worked in his restaurants. Many now helm their own kitchens in Hawaii and the Mainland, offering their own twists on Pacific Rim cuisine.

8. TALE OF THE BUTTERFISH

If you're wondering what "Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine" is, it can be illustrated in Roy's signature Misoyaki Butterfish with Sizzling Soy Vinaigrette. This dish is his most noted dish - in Newport Beach, it's so popular that they fly in 150 pounds of fresh butterfish per week! Chef Roy successfully blends a tempting combination of exotic flavors and spices mixed with the freshest of local ingredients.

This is an example of that one signature fish dish that every chef should strive to have.

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Established in 1982, Orange County-based FoodPower is a restaurant consulting firm that coaches industry leaders to leverage their strengths. By working hand-in-hand with restaurant management and staff, FoodPower can help create concepts, refine menus, and identify opportunities to increase food sales and capitalize on the changes in today’s dining out patterns to strengthen brands.